Passive relative constructions: noun + past participle

For regular verbs, the past participle often ends in -ed: checked, delivered, repaired. Irregular verbs require a separate form: write — written, take — taken, draw — drawn, build — built. The past-tense form wrote cannot replace written in a passive modifier.

Compare roles, not just spellings: people interviewing candidates conduct the interviews; people interviewed by the panel undergo them. A person can have a passive role, and a thing can be the subject of an active verb. A rule such as people = -ing and things = past participle therefore fails.

The past participle does not change with the modified noun’s number. However, the main verb agrees with the head of its subject phrase: the invoice ... is, the invoices ... are. A noun after by does not control that agreement.

Find the noun modified by the participial phrase. That noun is the understood subject of the corresponding full passive relative clause. It is not necessarily the main-clause subject: in We checked the parcel delivered at noon, the main subject is we, but the delivered item is the parcel.

Place the modifier close to the intended noun. If other noun phrases accumulate between them, readers may not know what was checked, printed or repaired. Reword the sentence or retain a full relative clause instead of relying on guesswork.

If the original clause is active, simply deleting that is insufficient. Check the roles first: the parcels that the courier delivered corresponds to the parcels delivered by the courier. The courier becomes a by-phrase; the parcels remain what was delivered.

The term past participle names a form, not a compulsory past-time meaning in every sentence. Context determines the timing and character of the event: goods delivered every morning refers to regular delivery; goods delivered yesterday refers to yesterday’s event. The participle alone does not say that the activity has stopped or its result no longer holds.

An ongoing process can be expressed through the passive construction being + past participle: the roof being repaired. This explicitly retains the progressive perspective of which is being repaired. The -ing ending belongs to auxiliary being; the main verb remains a past participle.

A simple past participle can sometimes also receive an ongoing or future interpretation in sufficient context. Do not turn repaired versus being repaired into an absolute completed-versus-uncompleted test. If progress matters to the message, being repaired or a full clause makes it explicit. If precise time perspective or a complex relationship between events matters, the full form is often clearer.

Shortening a clause does not authorize changing the facts. In not approved by the editor, not negates approval and by the editor identifies the agent. If those details distinguish the intended items or matter to the message, retain them.

Do not mechanically reduce clauses with may, must, should or other modal verbs to a bare past participle. Devices that may be replaced expresses possible replacement; devices replaced does not express that possibility explicitly. Both phrases can be grammatical, but they are not automatically equivalent.

Similarly, check frequency, dates, earlier time reference and restrictions with only. Do not invent an unstated agent. A by-phrase can be omitted when it is unnecessary for the message, but should not be removed from an exercise or real communication where authorship or responsibility is the point.

A modifier without commas often identifies exactly which things are meant: the boxes opened by customs means those boxes that customs opened. It does not claim that customs opened every box in the world, or even every box in this delivery.

If the items are already unambiguously identified, a passive phrase may add supplementary information. In writing, set it off with commas; in the middle of a sentence, both commas are needed. This concerns the organization of meaning, not a change in the participle’s form.

Omitting commas does not always create an ungrammatical sentence; often it changes the reading. Check whether you need to select a subgroup or add information about items already identified. Do not mechanically insert commas around every past participle.

First state the main action: what should be read, sent, collected or discussed. Then identify the relevant noun through an action performed on it. The concise construction should help the recipient find the right item, rather than simply make the sentence longer.

Before sending, check three things: the modifier’s noun is clear, the passive role and participle form are correct, and no important information has disappeared. If a full clause is needed to preserve modality or time perspective, keep it. Concision should serve meaning.

This lesson practises passive modifiers after nouns, not every participial construction. Initial adverbial phrases such as Encouraged by the feedback, ... relate to the sentence differently. Ordinary adjectives and active -ing forms appear here only as necessary contrasts.